10A NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2007
Henny Ray Abrams/ASSOCIATED PRESS
DJ Grandmaster Flash speaks at a news conference at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in New York on Feb. 28. As the first citizens of hip-hop nation in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the arrival of Grandmaster Flash and his partners the Furious Five signals a new age. The Bronx hip-hop pioneers are part of an otherwise traditional class: R.E.M., Van Halen and a pair of fellow New York City performers, Patti Smith and the Ronettes, entering the Rock Hall on Monday.
》 ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME
First hip-hop artists inducted
BY LARRY MCSHANE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK — AskGrandmaster Flash about hip-hop stars deserving of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and he's quick with a list of rap icons.
"Afrika Bambaataa. Run-DMC. KRS-One," he says, barely pausing for a breath, "Big Daddy Kane. 1.1. Cool J. Eric B and Rakim. Tribe Called Quest. The list goes on and on."
Flash left himself out, with good reason: The DJ and partners the Furious Five enter the Hall on Monday as its initial tap inductees. The Bronx hip-hop pioneers are part of an otherwise traditional class: R.E.M., Van Halen and a pair of fellow New York City performers, Patti Smith and the Ronettes.
As the first citizens of hip hop nation in the Rock Hall, the arrival of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five signals a new age at the Cleveland attraction; Smith likely marks the end of the '70s punk inductees, and the time of hip hop is upon us.
"This announces the beginning of the rapa era for the Hall," said Bill Adler, a hip-hop historian — currently editing the "Eyejammie Encyclopedia of Hip-Hop" — and member of the Hall's nominating committee. "Flash and the Furious Five are going to open the floodgates."
Adler, a publicist for the hugely influential Def Jam Records in the mid-1980s, offered his own list of rappers destined for induction: "The Beastie Boys, very quickly. Run-DMC and LL Cool J will get in pretty quickly. Slick Rick."
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five enter 25 years after their groundbreaking single, "The Message," about hard times in their native borough during the Reagan Administration. It was the first popular rap song with a social theme — "It's like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from going under," went the hypnotic chorus.
"One of the pivotal points in hip-hop history," said Furious Five rapper Melle Mel, who acknowledged his group initially wanted to pass
on the song.
The group, which also featured Kid Creole, Cowboy, Mr. Ness and Raheim before an acrimonious 1983 split between Flash and Mel, had missed induction on two previous occasions.
So when word arrived of the honor this year, Flash said he was initially skeptical.
"When it sank in that we were in, it was a good feeling for hip-hop." Flash said. "I think it's bigger than Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. To get that kind of respect is good for hip-hop."
Went he really lying in bed — "I usually sleep with the TV on" — when he heard the news that R.E.M. and Van Halen were in. Before he could roll over, the announcer added the name of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
Melle Mel recalled lying in bed
>> NATURAL DISASTER
"The fact that were in the Hall of Fame speaks volumes," said Melle Mel. "People try to separate hip-hop music like it stands alone, but it really doesn't. Were in with all the great groups in the history of music. It further legitimizes hip-hop."
Indonesian earthquake kills 70 people, injuring hundreds
BY ZAKKI HAKIM ASSOCIATED PRESS
SOLOK, Indonesia — A powerful earthquake jolted western Indonesia on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people and injuring hundreds as they fled shaking hotels, homes and hospitals. Two children were crushed by debris on a playground.
The 6.3-magnitude quake struck Sumatra island just before 11 a.m.
and was fell as far away as neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, where some tall buildings were evacuated. Several aftershocks followed, the strongest measuring 6.1, adding to tears of people already too nervous to return indoors.
Many said they would sleep in front of their homes or in the hills Tuesday night.
"Women were crying out in terror. We all just fled as quickly as we could," said Alpion, a welder who
joined thousands of others running to higher ground, fearing a tsunami that never came.
Indonesia straddles one of the world's most seismically active zones and has been hit by a string of natural disasters in recent years, the most deadly being the 2004 Asian tsunami that killed 160,000 people on Sumatra's northern tip.
Indonesian residents take shelter inside a tent on Tuesday in Solok, West Sumatra, Indonesia. A powerful earthquake crumpled houses across a large swath of western Indonesia, killing at least 70 people and injuring hundreds, authorities said.
At least 70 people were killed by Tuesday's quake, which hit the island's western coast, Cabinet Secretary Sudi Sialalah told reporters in the capital, Jakarta.
Call or come by for details
The hardest-hit area appeared to be Solok, a bustling town close to the epicenter, where two children were killed when a two-story building collapsed on the school playground, said police spokesman Supradi, who like many Indonesians uses only one name. In addition, three members of one family were burned alive when their collapsed home burst into flames.
Dozens of buildings were destroyed and hundreds of others were damaged, according to local police chief Lt. Col. Budi Sarwono. TV footage showed a flattened three-story home and wide cracks in the road.
"My house is on the brink of collapse," said Imelda Kusmawatti, as she prepared to spend the night in an army tent with her two children and six other families. "I am still traumatized and worried about
aftershocks."
Patients poured into hospitals in Solok, many with broken bones and cuts, but most were treated outside because of fears of more quakes. Scores were laid out on cots on a soccer field, where they were attached to intravenous drips and given emergency care.
"So far we have recovered 19 bodies and hundreds of injured people," Sarwono said of the toll in Solok. "The two hospitals are overwhelmed."
At one hospital in the nearby seaside town of Padang, panicked doctors and nurses fled into the street, startled patients limping behind, according to Metro TV. Electricity remained cut in parts of the town as darkness fell.
A witness in the town of Payahkumbuh said several shops in the main street had collapsed and police and soldiers were digging for survivors.
Government spokesman Hasrul Piliang said the number of dead "would likely rise" because tallies from remote areas were still being collected and there were reports of other people trapped under debris.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the tremor struck 20 miles below Solok. It was felt in Singapore, 265 miles away, forcing the evacuation of several older office buildings. In Malaysia's southern coastal city of Johor, citizens fled offices, buildings and shopping centers, witnesses said.
U. S. earthquake expert Kerry Sieh was in Padang on a research trip when the quake struck. He fled his fourth story hotel room like other guests, stopping only to unplug his laptop.
"I was pretty scared" he said, adding that the fault that spawned the quake was known as the Great Sumatran, which last ruptured in 1945. "I now know why people have
a hard time remembering how long earthquakes last"
Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.
In addition to the 2004 tsunami, an earthquake killed nearly 5,000 on lava island last year.
Tuesday's quake was about 660 miles west of the Jakarta.